Service Application Overview in SharePoint 2010

The services architecture of SharePoint Server 2010 allows for the sharing of services applications to take place. It is important for you to learn about service applications, the design principles that apply, how to deploy them in farms, and elements that have to be considered for successful farming to occur.

With SharePoint Server 2010 you will get a set of services that allow you to share them throughout your web applications. These are what is commonly referred to as service applications. They can be shared among farms, across various web applications, and they reduce the amount of resources it takes to provide various services.

There are many service applications included with SharePoint 2010 for you to take advantage of. They include:

Access Services This allows a user to view, edit, and interact as they use the Access 2010 database with a web browser.

Business Data Connectivity Service Allows for the line of business data systems to be accessed.

Excel Services Application Allows a user to view and interact with Excel 2010 files when using a web browser.

Managed Metadata Service This is used to manage the various hierarchies, social infrastructure, and keywords. It also allows for the publishing of the content across various collection sites.

Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Subscription There are multiple functions for service applications. They are used to track ID’s and settings for services that are in a given mode. They are deployed only through the Windows PowerShell.

PerformancePoint Service Application This allows the capabilities of PerformancePoint to be implemented.

Search Service Allows for the content to be crawled, indexed, and then allows for users to get results through search queries.

Secure Store Service This allows for authentication to occur with a single sign on for multiple services.

State Service This provides a storage location temporary in nature for data within the components of SharePoint Server.

Usage and Health Data Collection Service Wide usage and health data is collected from the farms. This allows the user to be able to view many different reports about usage and health.

User Profile Service This adds support for websites, profile pages, social computing features, and social tagging.

Visio Graphics Service This allows users to view and refresh diagrams in web browser that have been published in Visio 2010.

Microsoft Project Server 2010 This allows hosting for one or more of the Microsoft Project Web Access platforms. It helps to schedule functions and calculations. It also helps with the interface for all data with Microsoft Project 2010.

Office Web Apps Services (Word View Service, PowerPoint Service, and Excel Calculation Services) These Office Web Apps are part of Microsoft Office 2010 Suites. They are companion resources that work with Microsoft World 2010 and Microsoft OneNote 2010. They are also all stand alone applications that offer multiple platforms through a single browser. Therefore documents can be created that are the same as those made with a desktop application that corresponds with it. Associated services are used to create documents that you can view or edit with a web browser.